Entrepreneur identifies opportunities for business

Introduction

“Entrepreneur identifies of opportunities, takes risks and garners resources with an explicit focus on the creation of new products, services, knowledge or ideas ( Shane 2003)”. This article will introduce one of greatest entrepreneurs in China—Ma Yun, the English name is Jack Ma who is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Alibaba Group at present, he was a “Forbes” magazine was founded more than 50 years to become the front cover of the first entrepreneurs in mainland China, as well as won the named Global Leader of Tomorrow. In addition, Jack Ma also served as director of Softbank Group, China Yahoo, Chairman of the Board, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Advisory Committee under (ABAC) members, Alibaba, Hangzhou Normal University, Business School Dean, director of Huayi Brothers Media Group(http://baike.baidu.com).

Background of Jack Ma and his Alibaba.com

Jack Ma was born in 15th October in 1964, he hometownisHangzhouZhejiangprovince of China. Hegraduated from Hangzhou Teacher’s College in 1988, his major is English. After he was becamean English teacher at the HangzhouElectronicEngineeringCollege. In 1995, he has had an opportunity that visited the United States for the first time access to the Internet, which was made a huge shock to him, after returning home, he established “Chinese Yellow Pages” in Internet. In 1997, he joined the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Trade, the main responsible for the development of Chinese products on its official site and the online trading market (http://baike.baidu.com).

In 1999, he seriously considered that he resign from the government offical work. He is one of thefounders of Alibaba.com, to develop e-business applications, particularly in Business to Business (B2B). At present,Alibaba.com is a global inter-enterprise (B2B) e-commerce well-known brands, is the world’s area of international trade within the largest and most active online trading market and the business community (http://tech.sina.com.cn).On the one hand, in order to the success of Alibaba, so that Jack Ma was invited several times to lecture the world’s leading institution of higher learning, including the University of Pennsylvania Wharton Shool, MIT, Harvard and so on. On the other hand, he was invited to Dawos AnnualMeeting have eight timessince 2002.

In addition, good location, solid structure, excellent service to make Alibaba the world’s first network has more than 8 million business e-commerce website, over 220 countries and regions around the world every day to businesses and merchants to provide 8.1 million commercial supply and demand information become a global business network to promote the preferred site has been business people as the most popular B2B website (http://tech.sina.com).

Outstanding performance by all walks of life to make Alibaba’s attention. WTO Director-General of Sutherland as the first Alibaba consultants, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Japanese economy, Trade and Industry, Federation of European SMEs and other government and private agencies to local businesses recommended Alibaba (http://tech.sina.com).

Jack Ma founded Alibaba media at home and abroad, and foreign venture capitalists in Silicon Valley hailed with Yahoo, Amazon, eBay, AOL par with the top five business schools on behalf of one of the Internet. It was established to promote the establishment of China’s business credit, in the fierce international competition for small and medium enterprises has created unlimited opportunities, “Let the world is not difficult to do business (Ma 2010).” Jack Ma set up the personal auction site Taobao, successfully blazed a unique path localization in China, from the first quarter of 2005 started to become Asia’s largest personal auction site (http://tech.sina.com.cn).

The end of 2009, Alibaba Group Chairman of the Board Jack Ma appeared Xinhua News Agency, and young editors and reporters to conduct a “open communication.” This allows us to feel close to this young entrepreneur has been hailed as “pioneering Godfather” charm. His passion, wisdom, humor, as well as signature-style “insolent” and the Xinhua News Agency, the exciting young editors and reporters asked for the exchange of one climax after another, the applause continued, laughing (Ma 2010).

How could do such successful E-business as Jack Ma who do not understand programming, do not understand finance, people do not understand the design, and how to come to an Internet company today, Jakc Ma joked and said that the company someone asked him things, he was 95 percent did not know, he absolutely did not know, but he knows who knows who should know. He said, CEO’s ability that they will use someone else’s head (Ma 2010).

There are two approches to analysishow Jack Mapersonality characteristics make him become a great entrepreneur in the high competitive inforamtion age, including OCEAN and PEST.

OCEAN (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism)

According to Baron and Harrington’s the OCEAN diagram shows that the successful entrepreneur have the positive aspects involves Openness, Extraversion, and Neuroticism. However, the negative aspectswhich are disadvantages to the entrepreneur includes conscientiousness and agreeableness (Baron 1981).

Firstly, Jack Ma is an openness and Extraversion,because he is open to new experiences, intellectually curious, and asethetically sensitive to did his business— Alibaba, for example, since he first time seen Internet in American, after he back home he already made decision to do business related with Internet, even though during that time he did not have any knowledge about Internet.

Secondly, through Jack Ma’s presentations, magazines, and blogs. It can be clearly that Jack Ma who is a Creative management, which means that “being more creative yourself or managing others so that they can be more creative or ensuring that the system that is being managed operates more creatively (Henry 2001)”.For example, in 1999 when he leading his team started the E-business, he did not know the professional knowledge about Internet and computer, he just got idea, but he believe that Internet will become the main business method during in the 21st century.

Although Jack Ma believe that himself is an idealistic,self-confident and ambition person, he is an openness, extraversion, and neuroticism.Jack Matends to take risks, challenges assumptions, and abrasive person. Namely, when he determined do Alibaba.com, his team group have 24 people, only one agreed with his idea, the other 23 people disagreed his purpose.Howeverthese problems did not stopped his planning, he still persisted him way to did Alibaba.com and gained great successful(http://tech.sina.com.cn).

Thirdly, Jack Ma is a convergent thinking which is the process of converting all of the general ideas—the goals and non-specific solutions—into the specific solutions that form an application.For example, in Alibaba.com people have word right, they can argue with the manager, they can creative new way to do business, and the com he has the idea how to do the business, while he did not understood how to do the specific and specilist job.

Lastly, JackMa, he described himself that he is an idealist, his romantic idealism of this complex has also brought into Alibaba, Jack Ma said that Alibaba and other companies in addition to its assessment of the difference is outside the employee’s performance, but also the staff appraisal mission and values. In the future, but also add an index: Social welfare (http://yunma.blog.china ). As well as Jack Ma’s motto is that “Today is very cruel, more brutal tomorrow, the day after tomorrow is very beautiful, but most of the people who died in tomorrow night, only those who can see the real heroes of the day after tomorrow the sun (Ma 2010)”. This is reflected that although his mind is idealization, his action is more powerful, realistic and as firm as a rock. He has strong persist in his Internet dream on the road.

Alibaba’s values which is not only the company’s value, but also is Jack Ma’s and his team group’s value. Such as the company take policies First: focus on the customer’s concern, to provide customers with advice and information to help customers grow. Teamwork: Shared-sharing in order to complete the big or small, Embrace Change: Breaking through the self, to meet the changing.Integrity: honesty, integrity, keep its promises.Passion: Never give up, optimism up. Dedicated: a professional attitude and the usual state of mind to do extraordinary things (http://page.china.alibaba.com).

PEST (Political, Economic and Environment, Social, Technology) factors

According to Belbin’s acknowledges that “the preferred role is linked to reasoning ability, personality charateristics, personal values, learned behaviours, and the priorities and processes of the manager’s job (Belbin 1993)”.For example the

Alibaba.com catched the best opportunities to set up E-business on Internet. The

Value perspect= permission, ideas and realistic connected together

Social responsibility

Charity, environment

Political

Customer, employees, stakeholders

Secondly, The entrepreneur’s organization

Team group, trust, loyalty, goal, adhere to for example in 1999, 18 people organiza Alibaba. No money, no

Lastly, The external environment: economic problem, social problem,

Creaitve new way to management the future, open, share, responsble, globlization.

Conclusion

Alibaba the next one tenth anniversary of the three objectives: First, they want to the world’s 10 million small businesses to provide equal platform; second, to create a million jobs; Taobao online last year, the direct creation of employment opportunities At 1.7 million, 180 million per year, an increase of 2.5 million logistics industry, many employees because Taobao; third, one billion people worldwide consumer platforms.

The world is needed is a more open, more sharing, more the responsibility of the social needs of a community-oriented enterprises, and from the community and serve the society for the future of social responsibility of business is full of responsibility, the world needs is a kind of spiritual , a culture, a belief, a dream.